Man Or Astoman?

with Knodel and Japancakes

The Echo Lounge, Atlanta, GA • November 19, 1999

Roi J. Tamkin

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There’s a never a dull moment at the Echo Lounge with Man Or Astroman? out supporting their latest, EEIVAC . Japancakes from Athens opened the night, but it was the second band, Knodel, that set the tone for a weird, space-themed evening. Dressed in their own type of space-man suits, they opened their set with the first song sung entirely in French. Then their show really got weird. With synthesizers, electronic sounds, bass, guitars, and drums, the trio played original music that fit right in with the audience dressed as spacemen and the spaced-out.

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After Knodel, the crowd waited patiently as men dressed in sanitized suits and facemasks designed the set. The painstaking construction of the stage made to resemble EEIVAC ‘s lab took as long as the actual concert. But the four musicians aided with their assistants put on a truly visual and aural show. Their brand of sci-fi surf was augmented with programmed voices, loops and various odd sounds. Instruments departed from the usual guitars to include the guitar jack making contact with a finger, a siren that wailed when touched, and a computer keyboard where each letter was programmed to produce a tone.

Little Debbie pies filled the air as the foursome surfed away on guitars, double bass and flaming helmets. They jumped up on the amps and mixed in the audience. The show closed with a giant Tesla coil firing off sparks and streaks of lightning that surprisingly did not burn down the Echo Lounge. Learn more about these local spacemen at http://www.astroman.com. ◼

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